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There may come a day soon in the near future , where things like smart phones, smart PDA’s smart cars, etc give way to smart cities ( which are already existent or are in the making). But very soon these may be things of the past with the whole “Internet of Things” concept coming up.

The Internet of Things is a simple concept where in all our smart phones, cars, refrigerators, TV’s, PDA’s , Traffic Signals , Parking Slots , Elevators are all connected into one giant network with everything being connected to everything else . This means that for example if you are driving to the City [ a bad idea in itself], but are worried about traffic jams, the traffic signals can detect the traffic jams up ahead and accordingly reroute the traffic via another road / street. This would also mean integrating traffic patterns via algorithms into traffic signals so that pro active congestion control can kick in and prevent traffic bottlenecks even before they actually happen.

Likewise your car can be routed to a empty parking spot based on GPS /parking data available real time so that you don’t have to go hunting for that sweet parking spot . And if all hell does break-loose and the city is actually crowded, your smart phone gives you a heads up before you actually head into the city with traffic jam/ congestion statistics and prevent you from even getting into your car. Now all this does seem a lot sci fi, but believe me this is going to happen not too far into the future.

Another quite interesting example would your fridge SMSing your supermarket where you are shopping , telling it to add say Milk into your purchase and intimating you as well. Another high profile change which is very much required to avoid those long supermarket billing queues is some sort of supermarket credit in your debit/credit card and each aisle or each grocery /item [basket] automatically linking in the number of items you pick via a bar code and then using your card for a direct debit of the item. This would also mean you get a real time idea of what you need and how much dough you have left in your card, in case you just over spent.

A divergent thought on these tracks i.e. from the Internet of Things , would be real time things from the Internet which would integrate into Real Life , For example you have to make it to a meeting 2 states away and cant actually make it person , and voila ,your rent an android /person, who you remotely control can step in, so you basically are still shaking hands with your business colleague , perhaps even having a dinner on hologram all from the cosy confines of your home. This has some hilarious applications too. Remember those boring meetings, we dont want to be in, the really shitty trainings, we wished somebody else would attend , or on a personal front the whole extended family thing, which you cant stand. Holographic actual impersonator [HAL] is here to save you !!

With the smart cities and the Internet of things, the way we live our lives will change for sure, lets hope we seem some really sci fi changes up in the near future.

This isnt mine ..but is worth sharing.. Something for Football fans like me around the world… “People say Football World Cup is about Life And Death; but actually it’s much more than that…” World Cup 1930 Image Courtsey: Allsport Winners: Uruguay Teams: 13 Teams in qualifiers: N/A Notable absentees: Of the major European countries, only France took part Surprises: USA, who finished third Golden Boot: Guillermo Stábile (Argentina) – 8 Stats: A total of 70 goals were scored (3.89 per match); Argentina (18) scored the most Format: One group of four and three groups of three in the qualifying stage, with the top from each group going into the semi-finals Number of matches: 18 World Cup 1934 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Italy Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 32 Notable absentees: Holders Uruguay, England Surprises: Egypt Golden Boot: Oldrich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia) – 5 Stats: A total of 70 goals were scored (4.12 per match); Italy (12) scored the most Format: Straight knockout, replays for drawn matches Number of matches: 17 World Cup 1938 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Italy Teams: 15 Teams in qualifiers: 37 Notable absentees: Argentina, England, Spain, Uruguay Surprises: Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Cuba Golden Boot: Leônidas (Brazil) – 7 Stats: A total of 84 goals were scored (4.67 per match); Hungary (15) scored the most Format: Straight knockout, replays for drawn matches Number of matches: 18 World Cup 1950 Image Courtsey: Allsport Winners: Uruguay Teams: 13 Teams in qualifiers: 34 Notable absentees: France, Germany, Hungary Surprises: Bolivia Golden Boot: Ademir (Brazil) – 9 Stats: A total of 88 goals were scored (4.00 per match); Brazil (22) scored the most Format: Four groups, with the winners of each progressing to a four-team round-robin final group. Withdrawals meant there were two groups of four, one of three and one of two Number of matches: 22 World Cup 1954 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: West Germany Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 45 Notable absentees: Spain Surprises: Korean Republic Golden Boot: Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 Stats: A total of 140 goals were scored (5.38 per match); Hungary (27) scored the most Format: Four groups of four with two seeded and two unseeded teams in each group. However, the teams played just two matches per group rather than the usual three, with the seeded sides facing unseeded sides. Where teams ended up tied for the second qualifying position by points, they required a play-off. The two teams finishing at the top of their group went through to the quarter-finals Number of matches: 26 World Cup 1958 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Brazil Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 45 Notable absentees: Italy, Uruguay Surprises: Wales, Northern Ireland Golden Boot: Just Fontaine (France) – 13 Stats: A total of 126 goals were scored (3.60 per match); France (23) scored the most Format: Four groups of four, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals Number of matches: 35 World Cup 1962 Image Courtsey: Allsport Winners: Brazil Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 56 Notable absentees: Sweden Surprises: Colombia Golden Boot: Garrincha, Vavá (Brazil), Leonel Sánchez (Chile), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia), Flórián Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (USSR) – 4 Stats: A total of 89 goals were scored (2.78 per match); Brazil (14) scored the most Format: Four groups of four, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals Number of matches: 32 World Cup 1966 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: England Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 70 Notable absentees: None Surprises: North Korea Golden Boot: Eusébio (Portugal) – 9 Stats: A total of 89 goals were scored (2.78 per match); Portugal (17) scored the most Format: Four groups of four, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals Number of matches: 32 World Cup 1970 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Brazil Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 75 Number of matches: 32 Notable absentees: Argentina, France, Portugal, Spain Surprises: Morocco, the first African qualifiers since World War II Golden Boot: Gerd Muller (Germany) – 10 World Cup 1974 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: West Germany Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 99 Notable absentees: England, France, Hungary, Spain, USSR Surprises: Australia, Haiti and Zaire Golden Boot: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – 7 Stats: A total of 97 goals were scored (2.55 per match); Poland (16) scored the most Format: Four groups of four in the qualifying stage, with the top two from each group going into a second round of two four-team groups and the winners facing each other in the final Number of matches: 38 World Cup 1978 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Argentina Teams: 16 Teams in qualifiers: 107 Notable absentees: England, Czechoslovakia, USSR Surprises: Iran, Tunisia Golden Boot: Mario Kempes (Argentina) – 6 Stats: A total of 102 goals were scored (2.68 per match); Argentina and Netherlands (15) scored the most Format: Four groups of four in the qualifying stage, with the top two from each group into a second round of two groups of four, the top side in each progressing into the final Number of matches: 38 World Cup 1982 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Italy Teams: 24 Teams in qualifiers: 109 Notable absentees: Netherlands, Mexico Surprises: Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand Golden Boot: Paolo Rossi (Italy) – 6 Stats: A total of 146 goals were scored (2.81 per match); France (16) scored the most Format: Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second round, where they split into four groups of three. The winners of each group advanced to the semi-finals Number of matches: 52 World Cup 1986 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Argentina Teams: 24 Teams in qualifiers: 121 Notable absentees: Netherlands Surprises: Canada, Iraq Golden Boot: Gary Lineker (England) – 6 Stats: A total of 132 goals were scored (2.54 per match); Argentina (14) scored the most Format: Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16, plus four best third-place finishers Number of matches: 52 World Cup 1990 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: West Germany Teams: 24 Teams in qualifiers: 116 Notable absentees: Denmark, France, Portugal Surprises: Costa Rica, Republic of Ireland, UAE Golden Boot: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) – 6 Stats: A total of 115 goals were scored (2.21 per match), which was the lowest goals-per-match ratio in World Cup history; West Germany (15) scored the most Format: Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16, plus four best third place finishers Number of matches: 52 World Cup 1994 Image Courtsey: Allsport Winners: Brazil Teams: 24 Teams in qualifiers: 147 Notable absentees: England, France Surprises: Greece, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Golden Boot: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (Russia) – 6 Stats: A total of 141 goals were scored (2.71 per match); Sweden (15) scored the most Format: Six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16, plus four best 3rd place finishers Number of matches: 52 World Cup 1998 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: France Teams: 32 Teams in qualifiers: 174 Notable absentees: Russia Surprises: Jamaica, Japan, South Africa Golden Boot: Davor Suker (Croatia) – 6 Stats: A total of 171 goals were scored (2.67 per match); France (15) scored the most Format: Eight groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16 Number of matches: 64 World Cup 2002 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Brazil Teams: 32 Teams in qualifiers: 199 Notable absentees: Netherlands Surprises: Senegal, South Korea, Turkey Golden Boot: Ronaldo (Brazil) – 8 Stats: A total of 161 goals were scored (2.52 per match); Brazil (18) scored the most Format: Eight groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16 Number of matches: 64 World Cup 2006 Image Courtsey: GettyImages Winners: Italy Teams: 32 Teams in qualifiers: 198 Notable Absentees: Cameroon, Nigeria Surprises: Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago Golden Boot: Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 5 Stats: A total of 147 goals were scored (2.30 per match); Germany (14) scored the most Format: Eight groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a knockout round of 16 Number of matches: 64 World Cup 2010 ????? Whoever created this, I salute you :) Hope you like reading this post. Please leave some comments.

The TV & the ad world have been gripped by ZooZoo Mania, the cute white , egg headed alien like Creatures featured in the Hit new Vodafone Ad series.

ZooZoo

You must have noticed those cute and funny and seemingly animated characters which many mistake for alien like creatures in the advertisements of Vodafone on tv during IPL 2 Season.

One distinct feature of these characters is the white overall’s , fat bellies, disproportional heads and limbs, and dots for eyes n mouths.

But as a matter of fact, these Zoozoo characters which are used for ads of various value added services of Vodafone are infact Real people dressed up in costumes.

In a first in the indian advertising industry, Ad film maker Prakash Varma [ Nirvana Films] chose a unique and innovative concept straight out of the book i.e. focusing on the product and the services being offerred rather than getting lots of glam and glitz who actually take away the ad’s focus towards themselves. Varma who has directed these commercials and reveals that the Zoozoos were a big challenge to create, and mostly women stage actors and occasionally children were used .

The important aspect is that since Zoozoos speak gibberish and walk in a particularly funny way which mimics humans in a variety of ways often exaggerating what real people do. The practical aspects of how they will move, talk, gesticulate and emote were very important. Hence, costume design and artwork were crucial elements.

zoozoo's star

The backdrop of these ads is fairly simple to avoid attention being diverted to other subjects.

Such is the craze with Zoozoo that Vodafone ads are among the most watched videos on YouTube and there are over 50,000 Zoozoo fans on Facebook.

Vodafone has been innovative in its ad campaigns , every1 still remembers the cute lil pug in the Hutch ads which ” goes wherever you go “.

In constrast to Airtel which offers better services and is a much larger market share holder and bigger player, Vodafone inspite of being a new entrant has done something which people are actually taking notice of.

We do remember the Airtel jingle which A.R. Rahman composed which was very very hummable , but apart from that getting stars / celebs to do ads doesnt work wonders for products at the end of the day, unless they are cosmetics.

I’ve heard this song Tere Bin by Rabbi Shergill a long time back…but i couldnt fully understand the meaning since it was in punjabi, my punjabi not being very good, could only understand parts of it.

I stumbled across this Blog “Rabbism” which has an amazing collection of Rabbi Songs and i must admit, the lyrics are vey meaningful , the depth of the meaning of some of the verses being so touching that it makes u stop and ponder .

The lovelorn aching heart and the way the verses depict the longing for the beloved is brilliant, something which lingers with you for days after yo’ve listened and understood the song. A mesmerizing all time Fav song in my list.

You always wonder what how and why we exist. The question ” what is life” is a complex question and i’m sure all of us may have thought about this at different stages in our lives.

Going by the happy go lucky mantra ” Live and let live” and ” Life is short and live it to the fullest ” is how we commonly avoid thinking about this topic. Mostly because Theists’s believe in god and religion.Now i dont have anything against them, i partly do believe in religion , but i have my doubts, making me an agnostic . But inspite of all this you do wonder about death and the life thereafter [ if any ] or death as the act of creation and all.

Well lets get to the point with the movie review..now , all of the above is what i felt after i saw this movie .

The Fountain (2006)

Cast : Hugh Jackman , Rachel Weisz

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Music : Clint Mansell

Genre : Science Fiction / Fantasy

“Death is the road to awe.”

How many movies would contain that line? Visually entrancing, peppered with thought-provoking moments.

The mesmerizing yet hauntingly scored music by Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet, The Fountain is aan intense and fantabulous movie , nevertheless far from flawless.

I’ve watched it 4 times, and still feel the plot is in a shorthand / cipher to the writers.

Writer/director Darren Aronofsky says the film is not meant to provide answers, but to raise the big questions: “trying to find out the reason of why we’re here and what is life and what is love. And what happens when you die? Does love sustain in the event of death .

These are questions that people have been asking since the beginning of time,” says Aronofsky. This is very serious and inspirng cinema that gets people thinking… I can’t criticize that. Some of my favorite moments:

Hugh Jackman’s Spanish Conquistador faces eighty Mayan warriors, single-handly charges them as he pledges, “I will not die, not here, not now, never!” I can’t but think how many countless warriors have died thinking the same thought….

Rachel Weisz laying in the hospital bed dying from a brain tumor describing how she felt during a seizure, “I wasn’t afraid. When I fell, I was full.”

Hugh Jackman’s astronaut’s weeping realization that, “I’m gonna die,” that delivers him (and all life) from the bondage of fear of death.

Hugh Jackman’s scientist loses his wedding ring in the the start of the film before he goes into the operation .

Hugh Jackman’s Middle age Conquistador getting the ring from ( Rachel Weisz ) the Spanish queen, and being told that he is to wear the ring when he has found Eden [ the Tree of Life ] and that she would be his Eve and that together they will live forever and He is to Deliver Spain from Bondage .

Hugh Jackman’s Middle Ages Conquistador loses the ring after drinking the tree sap from the Tree of Life as new trees Grow over his body and he dies.

Hugh Jackman’s monk Astronaut [who is travelling in a Bio Ecospheric future Space craft towards a dying Nebula called the Xibalba ] , having visions / hallucinations of his lost love [ Isabella / Izzi] who urges him to Finish it, i.e. Finish the Manuscript of the Book Izzi in the modern day was writing before her death.Here one wonders whether the astronaut has been travelling for years and still his love for Izzi has survived, the concept of Eternal Love is hinted at.

Finally the Hugh Jackman’s monk Astronaut wearing the ring given to the Middle Age Conquistador by the Spanish queen [ Rachel Weisz] and and entering the dying star at peace with the thought of his imminent death and that after death he will be united with his love forever. Touche` i’d say.

For me, the film is a mixute about facing death and transcending our fear , a story of eternal love, the resurrection of life through death, a psychedelic science fiction story, or even a muddled mess.

Overall I’d give it a very good 8 out of 10,Must watch category for its brilliant script and critical impeccability, how ever i’m not very sure whether most of the folks will sit through this though its a kewl movie.

I’d also want to mention that the Music is Really something that lingers onto you for days after u’ve heard it , a definite recommendation for movie score lovers.

Do let me know what you feel about this movie. I’d like to hear ur comments.

Its been quite a while since i last posted, partly because i had nothing to post and partly because i didnt bother.Anyways blogging is all about writing about something when u feel you have to……right .So welcome back dudes n dudettes and all the new junta in here.

Was recently watching TV and heard this song ” Rock On” from the new movie Rock On, now i dont know how many of you have watched Lakshya { yeah the hrithik roshan starrer ,Farhan Akhtar’s kargil flick} and how many of you remember the scene where a really hard cliff rock climbing is shown.So is u remember well, there is this rock band playing in the background score.

Now i guess Farhan Akhtar decided to make his film debut, he was sure he didnt want it look phoney…so he decided to sing the songs himself[ well a few of them atleast] after all the movie was about a group of guys, a rock band and all… so most of the actors cxan actually play those instruments which i think is a first in any Hindi Movie .

You must be wondering wat the heck…kya faltu me story sunai shuru me…. actually i’m sure farhan akhtar liked the background score from the ascent wala scene in Lakshya and so he put a song with that and trust me it does sound pretty great.

The second song is ” Socha hai ” which has the that familiar rock badn tinge to it, which if u’ve been to gig’s and all back in campuses… or rather the present day campuses.

The lyrics are hummable too, but the song has got this new original feel which bands from pakistan and some singles from India have been delighting us with.
The movie is all about 4 friends who have ambitions of making it big as a rock band…unforeseen events and personal problems cause them to ditch the dream and proceed, but then there comes this stage in life when all of us realize that we get our life just this once and hence we want out live our lives to the fullest, they gang back together and start jamming again.

The ” bindaas ” carefree attitude of the rockers in even when they are faced with choosing either their careers or music is well etched, and constant dilemma that people have { choosing over having a great fun filled life vs Career and money} is the theme of the film which i think everyone can relate to, and its also about friendship and life and dosti yaari …so its definitely worth a watch.

So all the very Best to The Rock ON Team ..

I do think that this movie could be a Dil Chahta hai -2 , in terms that it could lead to loads of junta going on roadtrips and rock bands and buddy gangs , funky accessories , new hair do’s and stuff like that….ciao..

Check both the songs out.

Enjoy…Cheers…

p.s:- I cant seem to upload the songs, can anyone tell me how this is done on wordpress.i mean when i try to upload audio [ i dont get the option of uploading mp3 or wma files.

Was feeling a little low on morale today, with all the usual nuances of life, which tend to make it boring and then u tend to end up asking the inevitable question i.e. why do i do all this?

Surely there’s more to life than just doing all this routine crap , is the purpose of life just to work for others..?? or maybe just live a good life and be dead once game’s up?? Or live it just for the sake of doing it ??

So i ended up remembering a poem. It is considered one of the most inspirational poems ever and has been authored by Hari Vansh Rai Bachchan.

I have tried to correct the poem to the best of my knowledge, however constructive criticism is always welcome .